Artificial intelligence technology is now being used to automatically identify damage to rental vehicles, thanks to a partnership between Hertz Global Holdings and UVeye, which is a company that develops vehicle inspection systems which are driven by artificial intelligence — and will be a key component in transforming its vehicle maintenance process of the rental car company.
Artificial Intelligence Technology to Automatically Identify Damage to Rental Vehicles
The first rental car facility in the United States in which this new technology is being used is at the international airport which serves the greater Atlanta metropolitan area.
“With more than half a million vehicles around the globe, keeping vehicles in well maintained condition before, during, and after rentals is a critical priority for Hertz”, according to this official press release from Hertz. “Vehicle assessments in the rental industry have always relied heavily on manual inspections conducted in varying conditions. By implementing UVeye’s advanced AI-driven inspection technology, Hertz can significantly enhance the frequency, accuracy, and efficiency of its vehicle maintenance processes, ensuring reliable service, improved vehicle availability and transparency for its customers.”
The camera systems of UVeye are powered by artificial intelligence and are placed and arranged as a sort of tunnel under which the rental vehicle is passed through. The machine learning algorithms enable real-time, automated inspections of the body, glass, tires, and undercarriage of the vehicle. The technology enables improvements in safety and vehicle availability by detecting maintenance issues with unprecedented speed and precision. The tire treadwear system of UVeye captures high-resolution images that are instantly analyzed to determine whether a tire needs replacement, which reduces the need for manual checks and ensures timely and proactive service. By complementing manual checks with UVeye’s technology, customers will enjoy more efficient and transparent automated checks when picking up and dropping off their vehicles.
As Dollar Rent-A-Car and Thrifty Car Rental are both subsidiaries of Hertz Global Holdings, facilities under those brands at or near major airports in the United States will also eventually be equipped with this new technology.
Final Boarding Call
Starting off with the premise that technology is not perfect, does the customer automatically get billed for damage when:
- A foreign substance that can be removed without damage is detected by the device?
- Minor damage is incurred on any part of the undercarriage that is not easily accessible by the customer — despite it not potentially decreasing the value of the motor vehicle?
- The device detects something that does not exist?
- An existing scratch is detected by the technology but was not easily visible at the start of the rental?
- The rental car facility decides not to fix damage that is minor or cosmetic at best?
Conversely, does the customer receive a refund if the rental vehicle is returned in better condition than before the rental began?
If the technology is really that fast and efficient, then the procedure should be conducted while the customer is still present at the facility before leaving so that the customer has a chance to dispute the claims of damage on the spot — rather than experiencing an unwanted surprise later on by being informed of the damage via e-mail message or via a mobile software application program.
In addition to the estimate for the damage to the rental vehicle, customers will also be charged the following fees:
- Processing fee, which is the cost to detect and estimate the damage that occurred during the rental.
- Administration fee, which covers a portion of the costs that Hertz incurs as a result of processing the claim.
Taking photographs and recording a video of the condition of the rental vehicle — both upon collecting the vehicle prior to driving it out of the facility and after returning it to the facility — has become more important than ever even if receiving official photographs of the condition of the vehicle from the rental car facility prior to leaving with the vehicle. This device saves time for members of the staff from inspecting the vehicle themselves by completely relying on the technology — which I guarantee without even seeing it is not flawless or infallible — while simultaneously potentially creating a greater revenue stream for the rental car company.
Hertz claims the implementation of artificial intelligence technology to automatically identify damage to rental vehicles is part of its “broader strategy to harness cutting-edge technology that improves operational efficiency and elevates the customer experience” and that the technology will “bring efficiency and greater accuracy to our maintenance process, so we can focus on our vehicles being ready when and where our customers want them”…
…but this technology is rife for abuse if controlled by the wrong people — at the expense of customers of rental car companies such as you and I.
Only time will tell as to how this “cutting edge technology” is handled in general by Hertz — whether it will be “harnessed” or exploited — as it is deployed to installations at approximately 100 facilities at or near major airports throughout the United States by the end of 2025…
…but one thing is certain: companies do not invest in costly technology unless the potential for reducing costs or increasing revenue — or, in this case, possibly both — is significant…
All photographs ©2020, ©2022, and ©2024 by Brian Cohen.
